Feb 9 Brexit trashes tech

The introduction of Brexit tariff and non-tariff barriers will up prices for UK consumers and producers and lead to a decline in British exports. And for most economic sectors output will fall, though the negative impact on output is greater for high- and medium-high tech sectors than medium- or medium-low tech sectors, according to a report from the UK Trade Policy Observatory at the University of Sussex.

“This has implications for industrial strategy that aims to support economic growth and drive productivity through R&D and innovation,” researchers say. “There are some sectors (especially in the food processing industry) that may see an expansion in output after Brexit, but the effects are small and come at the expense of higher consumer and intermediate goods prices.”

The researchers also investigated whether signing new trade deals could compensate for the loss of market access and trade with the EU. “Our modelling of a scenario in which the UK leaves the EU without a deal but signs free trade agreements [FTAs] with all other countries in the world suggests that even these universal FTAs would not fully mitigate the loss of trade with the EU,” says the report.